2.5: John Holland’s classifications of work environments

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Graciela Martinez and Elizabeth Shaker
College of the Canyons

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Video Transcript: RIASEC at Work Matching Your Personality to Career⁹

A screenshot of the "RIASEC at Work" video — Figure 2.6 – Watch “RIASEC at Work Matching Your Personality to Career” (Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N3vjopNT4V8).

(Transcript) Work, it's a hard fact of life. Sometimes just finding work we enjoy and are good at is challenge enough. Some people spend their entire life searching for the right job. Many don't know where to even start looking.

In the United States alone, there are more than a hundred and fifty million people working thousands of different kinds of jobs. From accountants to athletes. From dancers to dentists. From teachers to top executives. Every job requires its own set of skills and comes with its own rigors and rewards. And just as not everybody is right for every job, not every job is right for everybody. In fact, your personality, those characteristics, traits and preferences that make you who you are, is a major factor in determining which occupations are right for you. People who follow career paths that match their personalities are more likely to be both satisfied and successful with those careers. This video will introduce you to one of the best ways to find work that fits with your personality. It's called the RIASEC personality theory and it is a time-tested tool for exploring and deciding on a career that's right for you. You'll learn how the tasks and work environments of jobs match with personality types and even learn which jobs tend to be a better fit for each type. Along the way, you may discover careers that match your own interests, perhaps leading to greater career satisfaction down the road. So, let's get started.

In the 1950s, renowned psychologist John L. Holland developed a theory and a process that helped individuals match their work interests, otherwise known as their vocational personalities, to their preferred work environments. Holland's theory says that most people can be described by one or more of six personality types: realistic, investigative, artistic, social, enterprising and conventional. People who share the same personality type tend to group together and create work environments with shared values. What does this mean? In short, people who work in an environment that is a good fit for their personality type and with people who share their interests and personality traits are more likely to find satisfaction and success in their career. What Holland did was to give us a way to view the world of work from forty thousand feet, plus a quick way to take stock of our abilities and preferences so we can really understand where we fit in best. If you were to consider all the hundreds of possible career choices, you might be overwhelmed by the task of narrowing down your options. The Holland personality types simplify this process by helping you to make a quick first cut.

The terms that Holland invented for personality types may be a little puzzling when you first encounter them. What do you mean, I'm not realistic? But once you learn what they mean, you'll find they provide real insights into yourself and your career choices. But which personality type or types best describe you? Are you the kind of person who likes to help others? Are you a risk taker who is always looking for a new business opportunity? Do you prefer to work with your hands or with ideas? Indoors or out? In groups or by yourself? Knowing your answers to these and other questions about work preferences can help you to discover your vocational interests and, thus, the kind of work that will fit your best. It's important to realize that most people have a variety of interests and most of us can't be pigeonholed into just one personality type. Usually it helps if we think in terms of a primary type that describes us best, plus one or two secondary types that reflect other interests we have. For example, you might have primarily realistic interests but also have investigative or conventional interests. Your work may not satisfy all of your interests, that's why we have hobbies, but once you have an understanding of your dominant personality type or types, you can identify work situations where you'll fit in best.

Keep in mind that just as people are varied, work situations are too. A particular career might combine aspects that are attractive to, for example, social and enterprising personality types. Also, remember that it's not a good thing for everybody in a certain career to be exactly alike. You may have heard of something called group think, which happens when there's no diversity in the workplace. In fact, in most workplaces you'll find a variety of people but they will share a core of certain interests and preferences that drew them to this kind of work. That's what the Holland types are designed to describe. The rest of this video will better introduce you to the six Holland personality types. You'll learn about the interests and values that characterize each personality type as well as specific jobs whose work situations cater to those interests and values. As you progress through this video, think about the kinds of work that you enjoy or might enjoy. Don't worry about fitting yourself into one personality type. Keep your options open. But if one or more of the six types interests you or seems to match your personal characteristics, pay close attention to the jobs that go with that type. Who knows, one of those may be the job of your dreams.¹⁰

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(Holland Codes by QVhighschool01 is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0)

You will have an opportunity to complete the Strong Interest Inventory in class. Your instructor will give you more detailed information on completing this assessment. Once you complete the assessment, your instructor will generate a career report and distribute your results to you.

Read over the different RIASEC work environments below and consider your first, second and third choice interests.

Realistic: These people describe themselves as honest, loyal, and practical. They are doers more than thinkers. They have strong mechanical, motor, and athletic abilities; like the outdoors; and prefer working with machines, tools, plants, and animals.¹¹ Realistic occupations frequently involve work activities that include practical, hands-on problems and solutions. They often deal with plants, animals, and real-world materials like wood, tools, and machinery. Many of the occupations require working outside, and do not involve a lot of paperwork or working closely with others.
Investigative: These people love problem solving and analytical skills. They are intellectually stimulated and often mathematically or scientifically inclined; like to observe, learn, and evaluate; prefer working alone; and are reserved.¹² Investigative occupations frequently involve working with ideas, and require an extensive amount of thinking. These occupations can involve searching for facts and figuring out problems mentally.

Artistic: These people are the “free spirits.” They are creative, emotional, intuitive, and idealistic; have a flair for communicating ideas; dislike structure and prefer working independently; and like to sing, write, act, paint, and think creatively. They are similar to the investigative type but are interested in the artistic and aesthetic aspects of things more than the scientific.¹³ Artistic occupations frequently involve working with forms, designs and patterns. They often require self-expression and the work can be done without following a clear set of rules.

Social: These are “people” people. They are friendly and outgoing; love to help others, make a difference, or both; have strong verbal and personal skills and teaching abilities; and are less likely to engage in intellectual or physical activity.¹⁴ Social occupations frequently involve working with, communicating with, and teaching people. These occupations often involve helping or providing service to others.

Enterprising: These people are confident, assertive risk takers. They are sociable; enjoy speaking and leadership; like to persuade rather than guide; like to use their influence; have strong interpersonal skills; and are status conscious.¹⁵ Enterprising occupations frequently involve starting up and carrying out projects. These occupations can involve leading people and making many decisions. Sometimes they require risk taking and often deal with business.

Conventional: These people are dependable, detail oriented, disciplined, precise, persistent, and practical; value order; and are good at clerical and numerical tasks. They work well with people and data, so they are good organizers, schedulers, and project managers.¹⁶ Conventional occupations frequently involve following set procedures and routines. These occupations can include working with data and details more than with ideas. Usually there is a clear line of authority to follow.

Activity 2.4 – What’s Your Occupational Type¹⁷
Using the descriptions above, choose the three types that most closely describe you and list them in order in the following table. Most people are combinations of two or sometimes three types. Then list the specific words or attributes that you feel describe you best. After determining your primary, secondary, and tertiary occupational types, take the first initial for each type, in order, to establish your occupational code.
Occupational Type	Word and Attributes That Closely Describe Me
Primary type (the one I identify with most closely)
Secondary type
Tertiary type
Note: Your occupational code is made up of the initials of the three personality types you selected, in order. My occupational code: ___ ___ ___ (For example: if Social, Enterprising, and Conventional are your top three occupational types, your occupational code would be: S E C)

Exploring Careers and Your Occupational Type

Now that you have determined your top three occupational types, you can begin to explore the types of careers that may be best suited for you. Holland studied people who were successful and happy in many occupations and matched their occupations to their occupational type, creating a description of the types of occupations that are best suited to each personality type. Just as many individuals are more than one personality type, many jobs show a strong correlation to more than one occupational type.

This is a rough beginning to finding your occupational type, but you will soon be seeking out more detailed results from the Strong Interest Inventory assessment as a part of this course.

Use the top thee occupation types you defined in the exercise, “What’s Your Occupational Type?” to help identify careers you may want to consider from the table below.

Table 2.1 – Occupational Options by Type¹⁸
Type	Ideal Environments	Sample Occupations
Realistic	Structured Clear lines of authority Work with things and tools Casual dress Focus on tangible results or well-thought-out goals	Contractor Emergency medical technician (EMT) Mechanic Military career Packaging engineer
Investigative	Nonstructured Research oriented Intellectual Work with ideas and data	Pharmacist Lab technician Nanotechnologist Geologist College professor
Artistic	Nonstructured Creative Rewards unconventional and aesthetic approaches Creation of products and ideas	Collaborative Collegial Work with people and on people-related problems/issues Work as a team or community
Social	Collaborative Collegial Work with people and on people-related problems/issues Work as a team or community	Teacher Geriatric counselor Correctional officer Coach Nurse
Enterprising	Typical business environment Results oriented Driven Work with people and data Entrepreneurial Power focused	Sales manager Banker Lawyer Business owner Restaurant manager
Conventional	Orderly Clear rules and policies Consistent processes Work with systems to manipulate and organize data Control and handling of money	Auditor Insurance underwriter Bank teller Office manager Database manager

You can use the Department of Labor’s O*Net (http://online.onetcenter.org/find) to get a deeper understanding of your occupation. For each occupation, O*Net lists the type of work, the work environment, the skills and education required, and the job outlook for that occupation. This is a truly rich resource that you should get to know.

You will have the opportunity to complete an interest assessment using one of the following online resources:

Careeronestop: http://www.careeronestop.org/ExploreCareers/assessments/self-assessments.aspx (go to “Interest Assessment”)
O*NET Interest Profiler: https://www.mynextmove.org/explore/ip
. Your results will give you a great deal of information to help you make informed decisions about your future including:

careers that reflect your interest
possible education and training programs
satisfying work environments
enjoyable activities for your free time